Business cards, often used for reasons of work, have the function of exchanging information between people. The information contained on business cards can contain contact data, business name, company logo, firm logo, the name and/or position of the holder of the card, as well as a more or less complete series of personal data, address, telephone number, email addresses, photograph or similar information.
Business cards comprise a support made for example of paper, cardboard, polymer material or combinations thereof such as for example plasticized cardboard, on which the above information is carried.
Merely by way of example, the most widely used format of the support is 85 mm×55 mm, although bigger formats are not excluded, for example postcard format, or smaller formats.
Business cards are also known that carry information both on the front and on the back of the support. In this field business cards are also known that consist of two sheets on each of which information relating to the owner of the business card is printed. The two sheets are then coupled together, using their unprinted surfaces, with the application of adhesive substances such as glues. This method is particularly complex and difficult to achieve, so that it is economical only for making large quantities of business cards.
The information on the support can be reported using substantially known printing processes such as ink jet printing, screen printing, laser printing, relief printing or suchlike.
Business cards are also known on which codes readable by readers are carried, using a printing process. The codes on the business card do not allow a direct display of the information contained in them, and the latter is therefore accessible only using a reader.
Merely by way of example, bar codes, QR codes, Data Matrix, Maxicode, Vericode or any other code that comes within this type of codes can be carried on the support.
By reading the code it is possible to decode the information contained inside it, by means of an electronic device associated to the reader. To this purpose the producers of such business cards have perfected their own electronic devices, or applications that can be executed by a computer, that allow to display the information and possibly to save it in their archives.
Since the codes are obtained by printing on the support of the business card, due to a possible deterioration or degeneration of the latter, the codes may not be decodable, thus neutralizing the function of the business card itself.
Furthermore, the codes thus obtained may contain too little information, and in some cases may not be sufficient for their use.
An apparatus is also known for making labels for clothes or articles in general, described in document JP-A-2011.008202, which comprises an operating unit that supplies at least one substrate on which a plurality of pairs of sheets are attached. The apparatus also comprises a printing unit for printing distinctive signs on at least one surface of the sheets. After printing, each pair of sheets is detached and the sheets of each pair are folded back on themselves around a line of intended folding so as to define the label.
This form of embodiment does not provide a reciprocal coupling of the sheets of each pair, and therefore the label is not suitable for an application as a business card. Furthermore, like the forms of embodiment described above, it has disadvantages such as limited printing space for information and possible deterioration over time.
In the field of business cards, cards that integrate RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) devices are also known, which are able to contain a large amount of information concerning the owner of the card.
The apparatuses used for making business cards that integrate RFID devices are particularly complex and require the production of high print runs of business cards both for technical reasons, since large format sheets are printed, or more recently large size rolls containing hundreds/thousands of cards, and also for economic reasons since it is not possible to manage personalizations that require a limited production volume. In this way the degree of personalization that may be required by each owner of the business card is lost.
Furthermore, the apparatuses used, precisely because of their complexity, are particularly costly, bulky and difficult to manage by non-specialized operators.
To overcome these disadvantages, it is also known to make the business cards manually, by applying RFID labels on a surface, external in use, of already printed business cards. This form of embodiment does not allow to print the front and back of the cards and is particularly complex to make, as well as having an unaesthetic presentation of the false label.
One purpose of the present invention is to perfect an apparatus for making business cards that allows to obtain business cards that are reliable and efficient over time, personalizable also by the final user and also directly in the final printing step, even when only a few copies are made.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an apparatus for making business cards that allows to obtain business cards containing a large amount of information.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an apparatus for making business cards that is simple and economical, and that can be used to make a multitude of business cards, and that can also allow the producer to supply semi-worked pieces that can be completed and personalized also individually in the final printing step.
Another purpose of the present invention is to perfect a method for making business cards that allows to carry an unlimited amount of information on the possible support of the cards.
Another purpose of the present invention is to perfect a method for making business cards that allows to preserve over time the information contained thereon even after the corresponding support has deteriorated.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.